Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

You were new to Derry and everyone knew it, at least all the kids did. No matter how much you tried to talk with them about anything, they all shunned you. You figured it was because of the Clown they all discussed in hushed whispers that fell silent when you walked around.

Not having friends gave bullies an easy target. Everyday walking home from school you were pushed into streams, bushes, and ditches. Even though you were nothing but nice, no one bothered to be kind to you.

You were fed up. Grabbing old spelunking gear your estranged parents had left in the house, you went to the sewer that all the kids avoided for fear of whatever had manifested 5 years ago. You slid into the slimey pipe and began the search for the cause of your isolation, but there was nothing there but a few spooked animals who scuttled away when you came close.

For a while you left it alone, realizing that maybe you were just unlikeable. That is, until you noticed something following you. You thought it was your imagination for a while, your imagination that had grown overactive from being alone while your parents traveled the world. Derry was safe, they had said, but as each day passed by, you believed them less and less.

One morning you put on your denim overalls and boots to put this to rest for once and all. You put your cropped hair into a messy hair ponytail, Your hair, blonde with light blue streaks that you had put in, smelled like strawberry shampoo. The sound of city traffic wafted through your Open Windows as everyone got ready for the day. You had to go to school, but Geography class could wait. You rushed around the creaky house in a hurry looking for any clean clothes, but you only found stained, smelly shirts. After a long search, you meandered up to the attic where all your old clothes were put in cardboard boxes. You put on one of the tiny shirts, your chest hardly hidden in the tight fabric, but it was all that was in the house. Some girls at school dressed in shirts like these all the time, but this type of style was too slutty for you.

You were finally ready, blue overalls hanging loosely on your shoulders, bit snug on your hips. Puberty gave you a body that was too provocative for how you liked to dress. Oh, how you missed just rough housing with your friends back home in Minatare, Nebraska. You sighed before stepping out of your old brown house and locking the rickety door behind you.

You rushed off to the sewer again and turned on the clip-on light that you had on your baseball cap. The smell was worse today than it was last week, but you ignored it and kept on trekking forward. Your boots splashed in the shallow puddles in the sewer pipes and the sound echoed althroughout the sewer. You had a pretty good memory, your teachers back home often commented how good you were at remembering random facts, but you felt yourself get lost in the tunnels. You had thought the tunnel branched right at one point, but it only went left, and there were more branches off of the main route than you remembered.

You methodically tried to keep to paths you recognized, but your mind was confused. You tried to get out, scared, but found it unattainable. You pressed up against the wall of the pipe and crouched down, trying not to cry. As you crouched, you heard some footsteps trudging towards you. You looked up and saw a massively tall man approaching.

Wide shoulders blocked out any light from that side of the tunnel, casting a long shadow down towards you. As he got closer, you noticed large muscles rippling under his tight shirt.

“H-hello?” You whispered; the sound of your voice echoed all around. The man paused for a moment before lumbering at you fast. You didn’t even have time to scream before he was on you, hand clamped over your mouth, and eyes staring right into yours.

They were bright yellow, almost golden, and while your body wanted to run away as fast as possible, you felt drawn in to his glowing orbs. His skin was pale, probably from hiding in shadows, but as you looked closer you noticed it was grease paint. His expressions were also drawn on. A Clown? You wondered; as soon as the thought crossed your mind you knew this was what had caused everyone to be so secretive toward you, what kept them distanced from you.

The Clown smiled wide at you, as if he had just seen his best friend. He drew closer, his mouth inches from your own, and he breathed in. His eyes closed as he smelled, and then he smiled at you again. “I’m sorry to cover your mouth like this,” he murmured, “but I didn’t want you to yell.... it’s been very long since I’ve been able to introduce myself and make a new friend and.... well, you seem very much like myself.” He slowly removed his hand from your mouth and let you breathe out a pensive sigh. When you didn’t holler, he grined widely again!  “Thank you [Y/N]!”

He helped you to youre feet. “Um, how did you know my name?” You asked, kind of terrified but also not wanting to make him upset. For some reason, he was.... important to you.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head; “U-uh, did I say that... oops!” He grinned sheepishly and let out a little laugh. “Would it be bad if I said that I have been keeping tabs on you?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

He looked away, embarrassed, “I was just worried for you. The first time I saw you, one of those stupid kids pushed you into the stream by here.” He clenched his fist, anger rising in his voice. You unintentionally reached out to him and touched his firm arm gently, comfortingly.

He relaxed his fist and smiled at you softly before continuing. “I know that I wasn’t perfect but, back then I wasn’t me, and yet now no one is letting you be their friend all because you weren’t there.” He sighed and shrugged. “If you continue to hang out with me, they’ll probably never speak to you.... But I couldn’t just watch you get pushed around.....”

You stopped him, “Wait, what do you mean ‘back then’?” You inquired.

The clown bit the inside of his lip and looked down. “Its.... its nothing.” He looked up again, this time smiling. “I’m just glad I got to meet you today. You’re.... different than everyone else here in Derry.”

You felt yourself flush red. He stooped down and kissed your forehead shyly. “Just let me know if you ever need me, [Y/N]. Pennywise will be there.”

Darkness clouded your vision and everything went black. Next thing you knew, you were waking up in your bed. Everything had felt like a dream, and the only reason you knew it wasn’t all in your mind was that your boots were at the end of your bed and your clothes were all folded neatly in the chair next to where you slept. You were in youre pajamas now, snuggled under youre favorite blanket.

As you sat up, all you could think of was the clown that you had met, and you quietly whispered “Pennywise,” as if testing the shape of his name in your mouth. You smiled softly and looked forward to the next time you could make it down to the sewer.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Friend or Foe

You wake up with a start as your alarm clock goes off. As much as you wanted to sleep in, you needed to get to school and you were going to be late at this rate! You put on a pair of lose jeans and a graphic tee you had gotten at a mall somewhere. You then brushed your hair and teeth before putting your hair in a signature ponytail. You then poor yourself some cereal and shovel it down before you slip on your boots, grab your bookbag and rush out of the door.

School wasn’t far away, but you still have to run to make it before the bell. As you turned a corner and saw the school building, you felt yourself gain more energy. Unfortunately, as you got nearer to the steps of the school house, you heard a thunderous roar of a car you knew too well. Henry Bowers pulled up into the parking lot, nearly hitting you. You jump out of the way just in time before his car comes to a stop right where you were standing just seconds before. He and his friends got out of the car after he turned it and the blaring music coming from his radio off.

“Hey, [Y/N]!” Henry and his goons surrounded you as you tried to back away. “Your so pretty, but you always hide it under those baggy clothes. Why is that?” He moved toward you and lifted your chin up so you were looking up at him. You scowled even though you were nervous at being surrounded. He backed up a minute later and reclined cooly against his car, although he just looked like a douche-canoe to you.

“I know you’re all alone in that house of yours, why don’t I give you company sometime? Me and my boys could come ‘round and treat ya real nice, if you’d want.” He smirked.

You grit your teeth, “I think I’ll be just fine, Henry .”

He shrugged, “Fine. Suit yourself. But,” he walked up to you again and leaned in close, “there’s a party this weekend down at the old mill. You should come, you’ll be sure to have fun.” He winked.

Just as he invited you, a familiar voice chimed out loudly from behind him. “‘Ey Henry! There’s a party this weekend? Sounds fun!” Your one friend in this town, Lorenzo, appeared behind the gang of boys. Lorenzo had introduced himself to you one day when you were eating lunch alone in the courtyard. He was an outcast too, and you had become friends almost instantly, as if it were fate.

Henry Bowers spat the ground close to Lorenzo’s feet and shoved him out of the way as he and his crew strode away, “You’re not invited, fag.” Henry turned back to you as he walked towards the school building. “[Y/N], I hope to see you there, and don’t bring your friend.” Henry smiled sultruly at you before turning back to face the school.

Lorenzo stuck his tongue out at Henry when the bully had looked away. “Aye aye aye, these boys are so up tight!”

“They shouldn’t call you that! It’s not right of them.....” You felt anger rise in your throat.

He shrugged, “Girl, it’s all good. I’m used to it. Sticks and stones, as my abuela always says!” The warning bell rang. “Let’s get to class then! Don’t want to be late or else the principal will have our skins!”